THE DAOIST TRADITION

L O U I S K O M J AT H Y , P H . D .
UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO

Approaching Daoism
Spelled Taoism in the older Wade-Giles Romanization system, but still pronounced
Daoism
Indigenous Chinese religion deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture
Dao , translatable as the Way and a way, as sacred and ultimate concern
Begins as a religious community during the Warring States period (480-222 BCE)
Western name approximates various indigenous Chinese designations, including
daojia (Family of the Dao), daojiao (Teachings of the Dao), and xuanfeng
(Mysterious Movement)
Daoists as adherents of Daoism. Those who are part of the tradition of the
Dao (daotong ) and who endeavor to transmit the Dao (chuandao )
Now a global religious tradition characterized by cultural, ethnic, linguistic and
national diversity. Global Daoism as rooted in Chinese Daoism as source-tradition
Like Zen Buddhism before it, Daoism is the object of various Western fictions,
fabrications, and fantasies.

Reliable Introductions to Daoism

Livia Kohn
2001/2004

Livia Kohn
2008

James Miller
2003/2008

Louis Komjathy
2013

Russell Kirkland
2004

Louis Komjathy
forthcoming

Contents
Contents
of The Daoist Tradition
(Bloomsbury Academy, 2013)

CONTENTS

viii

Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Conventions xiii
Illustrations xv
Charts xvi
Website xvii
Map xviii
Brief timeline of Daoist history

12 Scripture and scripture study

13 Ritual

2 The Daoist tradition

14 Temples and sacred sites

xix

15 Material culture

17

16 Daoism in the modern world

37

PART THREE Worldview

61

81

5 Informing views and foundational concerns

6 Cosmogony, cosmology and theology

143

165

10 Health and longevity practice

11 Meditation

101

123

8 Virtue, ethics and conduct guidelines

9 Dietetics

205

Basic glossary 317

Notes 325
Bibliography 331
Index 353

39

PART FOUR Practice

281

PART SIX Daoism in the modern world 301

4 Community and social organization

7 Views of self

265

PART TWO Identity and community

3 Ways to aliation

243

PART FIVE Place, sacred space, and material culture 263

PART ONE Historical overview

1 Approaching Daoism

225

187

145

83

303

CONTENTS
Contents of Daoism: A Guide for the Perplexed
(Bloomsbury Academy, forthcoming [2014])
Conventions viii
List of Figures xi

Introduction: On guidance and perplexity

1 Tradition 15
2 Community 41
3 Identity 59
4 View 79
5 Personhood 105
6 Practice 131
7 Experience 161
8 Place 181
9 Modernity 201
Bibliography
Index 249

227

Online Resources

Center for Daoist Studies

www.daoistcenter.org

BASIC INFORMATION SHEET ON DAOISM (TAOISM)

Louis Komjathy
, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Chinese Religions and Comparative Religious Studies
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
University of San Diego
This is an essentialized and simplified information sheet on Daoism (Taoism). It is particularly intended
for non-specialist educators who teach Daoism or who are interested in deepening their understanding.
PRELIMINARY POINTS
Daoism (spelled Taoism in the older Wade-Giles romanization system) is an indigenous Chinese religious
tradition in which reverence for the Dao, translatable as the Way and a way, is a matter of ultimate
concern. Daoism was a religious community from the beginning, here dated to the Warring States period
(480-222 BCE). As a Western category, Daoism may be understood as shorthand for Daoist adherents,
communities and their religious expressions. With over two thousand years of history, Daoism is a
diverse and complex religious tradition; it includes varied forms of religiosity that may be perplexing to
those who construct religion in terms of founders, authoritative scriptures and orthodox beliefs.
Throughout Chinese history Daoists have consistently focused on the Dao
as sacred and ultimate
concern. This is expressed in indigenous Chinese designations, including daojia
(Family of the Dao),
daojiao
(Teachings of the Dao), daoshi
(adept of the Dao), and xuanfeng
(Mysterious
Movement). That is, Daoists have understood themselves as those who transmit the Dao (chuandao
); they have seen themselves as part of the tradition of the Dao (daotong
). In the modern world,
Daoism also has become a global religious tradition characterized by cultural diversity and multiethnicity.
At the same time, like Zen Buddhism before it, Daoism is the object of various Western fantasies and
fictions.
ON DAOISM AND TAOISM (ROMANIZATION)
Both Daoism and Taoism refer to the same Chinese religion; they are both pronounced with a d
sound. Taoism derives from Wade-Giles romanization, an earlier way of approximating the sound of
Chinese characters into alphabetic script. Daoism derives from the more recent Pinyin romanization
system, which is the official system created by the Peoples Republic of China and utilized throughout
mainland China. Wade-Giles uses Tao, Taoist, and Taoism. If these terms were pronounced with a
t sound, they would appear as Tao, Taoist, and Taoism. That is, in Wade-Giles, a t without
an apostrophe () is a d sound. Pinyin uses Dao, Daoist, and Daoism. The latter is the preferred
form. The matter is complicated because some scholars now use Pinyin romanization, but continue to
employ the Wade-Giles derived Tao, Taoist, Taoism. The rationales for this are varied, but none of
them hold up to critical scrutiny.
Scholarly opinion differs on the origins and early history of Daoism. Nonetheless, there is consensus that
the category of philosophical Daoism is inaccurate and outdated. It should be completely abandoned.
Unfortunately, specialist research has yet to influence non-specialist discourse, both academic and
popular. Every major world religions textbook utilizes the misleading distinction between so-called
philosophical Daoism and so-called religious Daoism. The use of these categories should be taken, ipso
facto, as a sign of ignorance and inaccuracy. The easiest solution to this problem is to replace
philosophical Daoism with classical Daoism, and to emphasize the religious dimensions of classical
Daoism, of the early inner cultivation lineages (Harold Roth, Brown University). These dimensions

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING DAOISM (TAOISM)

Louis Komjathy
, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Chinese Religions and Comparative Religious Studies
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
University of San Diego
Popular misconceptions concerning Daoism are numerous and increasingly influential in the
modern world. All of these perspectives fail to understand the religious tradition which is
Daoism, a religious tradition that is complex, multifaceted, and rooted in Chinese culture. These
misconceptions have their origins in traditional Confucian prejudices, European colonialism, and
Christian missionary sensibilities, especially as expressed by late nineteenth-century Protestants.
Most of these views are located in American designer hybrid (New Age) spirituality,
Orientalism, Perennial Philosophy, and spiritual capitalism. They domesticate, sterilize and
misrepresent Daoism. In their most developed expressions, they may best be understood as part
of a new religious movement (NRM) called Popular Western Taoism (PWT), with Taoism
pronounced with a hard t sound. The current state of Daoism in American may thus be
compared to that of Zen Buddhism in the 1950s and 1960s (cf. Dharma Bums and Alan Watts
with the Mountains and Rivers Order), although some have suggested that it more closely
resembles the Euro-American understanding of Buddhism in the 1890s.
Popular Misconception

Informed View

Dao (Tao) is a trans-religious and universal

name for the sacred, and there are Dao-ists
(Tao-ists) who transcend the limitations of
the Daoist religious tradition

, romanized as dao or tao, is a Chinese

character utilized by Daoists to identify that
which they believe is sacred. There are
specific, foundational Daoist views concerning
the Dao, which originate in the earliest Daoist
communities of the Warring States period
(480-222 BCE).
The
distinction
between
so-called
philosophical Daoism and religious
Daoism is a modern Western fiction, which
reflects colonialist and missionary agendas and
sensibilities. From its beginnings in the
Warring States period (480-222 BCE),
Daoism consisted of religious practitioners
and communities. Considered as a whole,
Daoism is a complex and diverse religious
tradition. It consists of various adherents,
communities and movements, which cannot be
reduced to a simplistic bifurcation. Its
complexity may be mapped in terms of
historical periodization as well as models of
practice and attainment

Daoism consists of two forms, philosophical

Daoism and religious Daoism

These characterizations require reflection on the category of religion, including the ways in which Daoists have
constructed and understood their own tradition.

Remedying the Received View of Daoism

Philosophical Daoism
Based on misinterpretation of classical Daoist texts
Based on misunderstanding of defining characteristics
Daojia (tao-chia) simply means Family of the Dao
Early Han dynasty bibliographic and taxonomic category
Eventually used by Daoists to refer to their tradition, especially
ordained Daoist priests and religious communities
Earliest Daoist religious community
Apophatic meditation and mystical union with Dao
philosophical Daoism
Religious Daoism
Based on assumed distinction with so-called philosophical Daoism
Based on misunderstanding of earlier Daoist communities
Daojiao (tao-chiao) simply means Teachings of the Dao
Early medieval category used to distinguish Daoism from Buddhism
(fojiao )

Includes so-called daojia
Daoism was a religious tradition from the beginning
No other form of Daoism
religious Daoism
The Daoist tradition
Indigenous Chinese religion characterized by diversity and complexity

Seven Periods and Four Divisions of Daoist History

(The Daoist Tradition, Louis Komjathy, 2013)

Defining Characteristics of the Four Divisions

Classical Daoism
Warring States (480-222 BCE) to Early Han (202 BCE-9 CE)
Earliest Daoist religious community
Key movement: Inner cultivation lineages (Harold Roth)
Primary emphasis: Apophatic meditation aimed at mystical union with the Dao
Early Organized Daoism
Later Han (25-220 CE) to Period of Disunion (220-589)
Beginning of Daoism as organized religion
Key movements: Taiping (Great Peace), Tianshi (Celestial Masters), Taiqing
(Great Clarity), Shangqing (Highest Clarity), and Lingbao (Numinous Treasure)
Primary emphasis: Ethics, ritual, and theocratic society
Later Organized Daoism
Tang (618-907) to Qing (1644-1911)
Emergence of monasticism as major form of Daoist social organization
Key movements: Quanzhen (Complete Perfection), various internal alchemy lineages,
as well as deity cults and ritual movements
Primary emphasis: Internal alchemy and ritual
Modern Daoism
1912-present
Technically part of later organized Daoism
Primarily Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity)-Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) tradition
Emergence of global Daoism as multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multinational tradition from late 20th century to present

Models of Daoist Practice and Attainment

(1) Alchemical: Transformation of self through ingestion of various substances (external)
and/or through complex physiological practices (internal)
(2) Ascetic: Renunciation, perhaps even body-negation. May involve psychological
purification (internal) or practices such as fasting, sleep deprivation, voluntary poverty, etc.
(external)
(3) Cosmological: Emphasis on cosmological integration and seasonal attunement
(4) Dietetic: Attentiveness to consumption patterns and influences
(5) Ethical: Emphasis on morality and ethics, including precept study and application
(6) Hermeneutical: Emphasis on scripture study and interpretation, often resulting in the
production of commentaries
(7) Meditative: Meditation as central, with the recognition of diverse types of meditation
(8) Quietistic: Non-action (wuwei ), involving non-interference, non-intervention, and
effortless activity, as central
(9) Ritualistic: Ritual as central, with the recognition of diverse types of ritual expression and
activity

Towards a Cross-cultural Definition of Religion

Dimensions (Ninian Smart): Community, doctrine, ethics, experience,
materiality, narrative, and practice.
Hierophanies (Mircea Eliade): History of religions as series of
manifestations of sacred realities. Possibility that reality is plural, rather
than singular.
Symbol System (Clifford Geertz): Integral relationship between
worldview and reality.
Ultimate Concern (Paul Tillich): Concern (sacred) that renders all other
concerns preliminary and reveals the meaning of life.

Some Comparative Categories for Religious Studies

Cosmogony: Discourse on, study of, or theories about the origins of the
universe.
Cosmology: Discourse on, study of, or theories about the underlying
principles and structure of the universe.
Soteriology: Discourse on, study of, or theories about the ultimate purpose of
human existence. Examples include actualization, liberation, perfection,
realization, salvation, and so forth.
Theology: Discourse on, study of, or theories about the sacred. Traditionspecific terms and defining characteristics.
- Animistic: Gods/spirits in nature
- Atheistic: No gods
- Monistic: One impersonal reality (Reality)
- Monotheistic: One personal god (God)
- Panenhenic: Nature as sacred
- Pantheistic: Sacred in the world
- Panentheistic: Sacred in and beyond the world
- Polytheistic: Multiple gods

Comparative Categories Applied to Daoism

Cosmogony: Impersonal, spontaneous transformation. Emanation. From
non-differentiation to differentiation. Manifestation without diminishment.
Cosmology: Transformative process based on yin -yang interaction. Also
Five Phases (wuxing ) and qi (chi; energy). Not specifically Daoist.
Traditional Chinese culture. Amoral universe.
Soteriology: Attunement with the Dao . Many paths and models.
Theology: Dao as sacred and ultimate concern of Daoists.
- Primary: Apophatic, monistic, panentheistic, panenhenic.
- Secondary: Animistic and polytheistic.

Daoist Locatedness

(The Daoist Tradition, Louis Komjathy, 2013)

VIEW

Character for Dao

(Tao)

Ancient Seal Script

Modern Script

Etymology of Dao
(Tao)

Chuo: To Walk

Shou: Head

Chapter 1 of the Daode jing

(Scripture on the Dao and Inner Power)
The dao that can be spoken is not the constant Dao.
The name that can be named is not the constant name.
Namelessthe beginning of the heavens and earth.
Namedthe mother of the ten thousand beings.
Thus, constantly desireless, one may observe its subtlety.
Constantly desiring, one may observe its boundaries.
These two emerge from sameness, but differ in name.

This sameness is called mysterious.
Mysterious and again more mysterious
The gateway to all that is wondrous.

Dao as Daoist Cosmological and Theological Category

Four Characteristics
1. Source of everything
2. Unnamable mystery
3. All-pervading sacred presence (qi )
4. Universe as transformative process (Nature)

Sanqing
(Three Purities)

Classical and Foundational Daoist Cosmogony

(The Daoist Tradition, Louis Komjathy, 2013)

Classical and Foundational Daoist Cosmology

(Traditional Chinese Cosmology)
Three Primary Dimensions
Yin -yang : Interrelated cosmological principles and forces
Five Phases: Wood (minor yang), Fire (major yang), Earth (), Metal (minor yin), and
Water (major yin)
Qi (Chi): Physical respiration and subtle breath (energy)
Yin-Yang
Etymologically the characters depict a hill covered with shadows and sunlight,
respectively
Every being and phenomenon as combination of yin-yang, in varying degrees
Not polar opposites or antagonistic powers. Not good and evil
Cosmological and alchemical views
Various relative associations
- yin/feminine/earth/moon/dark/death/cold/moist/heavy/turbidity/
descent/rest/inward
- yang/masculine/heavens/sun/light/life/hot/dry/light/clarity/
ascent/activity/outward

Nine Foundational Daoist Principles and Values

1. Effortlessness
2. Flexibility
3. Receptivity

4. Anonymity
5. Serenity
6. Aptitude

7. Non-attachment
8. Contentment
9. Deference

Practice

Cosmological Attunement

Dietetics

Health and Longevity Practice

Meditation

Ritual

Scripture Study

Artistic Expression

Experience

Being & Embodiment

Community

Place

Residency/Habitation

Mystical Experience & Revelation

Identity
&
Affiliation

Daoist Religious Identity

Daoist
Adherent of the religious tradition which is Daoism

Affinity
Formal Affiliation
Lineage
Mystical Experience
Ordination
Revelation
Training
Transmission

Daoist Ordination and Lineage:

Huashan Lineage
of Quanzhen
HUASHAN PAI
(Mount Hua
Lineage)
(Complete
Perfection)
Chen Tuan
(Xiyi
; d. 989)

Hao Datong
(Guangning
; 1140-1212)
He Zhizhen
(1212-1299)

Xue Tailai
(1924-2001)
Chen Yuming
(b. 1969)

(Xiujing

Louis Komjathy
Kate Townsend
; Wanrui
; b. 1971) (Baojing
; Wanqing

; b. 1962)

Daoist Ordination and Lineage

Xue Tailai
(1924-2001)
24th Generation
Shiye (Master-grandfather)

Chen Yuming
(b. 1969)
th
25 Generation
Shifu (Master-father)

Kang Wanrui
(b. 1971)
26th Generation

Huashan 100-Character Lineage Poem

Yuan Yong Qin

Jing

Xi

Yang Qing Jia

Chong Zhi

Tai

Dan

Complete Eternal

Aid

Revere

Rare

Nourish Clear

Infuse

Great

Birthday Person

Hao

Man Jian

Neng Jiang Xian Su

Gu

Shi

Full

Establish Able

Discuss Worthy Simple

Zun

Jing

Xiang He

Still

Omen

Utmost

Yi

Harmony One

Shou Tong Zong De

Hao

Hao

Zu

Ancient Ten

Name

Patriarch

Guang Er

Hua

Tai

Hua

Great

Fu

Radiant Root

Support Rule

Hua

Ji

Shi

Liang Mi

Jian

Xuan Tai

Zheng Shang Ning Yue

Shan Gu

Flower

Base

World

Good

Firm

Mystery Great

Align

Shan

Ancient

Zhao Hou

Yun

Shan Fa

Hua

Ben

Zhen

Light

Revolve Good

Venerate Guard

Secret

Zhi

Method Will

Pervade Ancestor Virtue

Yu

Change Cosmos Source

Yun

Xian Ji

Mo

Shen Xu

Ti

Wan Ren

Cloud

Immortal Amass

Silent

Care

Body

Myriad

Empty

Without Expand Two

High

Serene

Dao

Tong San

Pai

Dao

Pervade Three

Lineage Perfect

Xuan Shi

Zheng Ren

Mystery Ten

First

Person

Yue

Shan

Month

Shan

Gong Xiu

Heaven Island

Long

Merit

Cultivate Numen

Nature

Principle RighteousTeaching Limit

Qing Shu

Da

Yu

Bao

Wu

Fu

Li

Omen

Great

Nourish Protect

Return

Propriety Expand Perfect

Shang Ying Dan

Xiu

High

Flourish Pure

Full

Elixir

Hui

Wisdom Awake

Chun Ye
Karma

Yi

Cheng Yuan Zhi

Sincere Origin

Complete Flourish Pure

Birth

Light

Jiao

Yan

Ji

Day

Fei

Chu

Dong

Fly

Begin

Dong

Zhen Sheng San

Ascend Three

Lai
Lai

Quan Jun

Ri

Zhou

Wisdom Complete Lord

Day

Zhou

Sheng Ming Cheng Ying Zhen Sheng Ming Heng Xin

Ascend Name

Month

Chong Miao Ri

Humane Venerate Subtle

Tian Ying Jiu

Book

Ling Xing Li

Wu

Ren

Guang Gen

Thick

Gui

Good

Zhen

Pervade Honesty Perfect

Sheng Fu
Sacred

Prefect

Quanzhen Monasteries Resided At

Taiqing gong
(Palace of Great Clarity)
Laoshan
(Mount Lao; near Qingdao, Shandong)

Yuquan yuan
(Temple of Jade Spring)
Huashan
(Mount Hua; near Huayin, Shaanxi)

Abbot and Administrative Monks of Taiqing gong